Curve DAO is back at the $1 mark as the bull market leads to almost $4 million in short liquidations.

During the recent bull rally, Curve DAO (CRV) emerged as one of the top performers. On Thursday, July 17, CRV was trading at $1, registering a 25% price increase in the last 24 hours. What’s more, trading volume doubled over the same period, reaching $860 million, suggesting significant retail engagement. This surge in CRV’s price and volume came amid significant short liquidations.

Curve DAO’s rally came amid broader bullish momentum, especially for altcoins. Positive news on the legislative front in the U.S., amid the so-called Crypto Week, helped boost sentiment. This has contributed to CRV registering 70% gains over the past seven days.

Bullish momentum contributed to a significant spike in CRV liquidations, which reached $4.9 million over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinalyze. The majority, or $3.9 million, of these were short positions, most of them on OKX and Binance.

This surge in liquidations likely had a compounding effect on CRV’s price. Notably, short sellers were forced to cover their positions with CRV tokens, bidding its price up. In traditional markets, this type of event is called a “short squeeze.”

Can CRV go beyond $1?

After briefly breaking the psychological resistance at the $1 level, CRV corrected to $0.9763. However, there are indications that its price could go higher. For one, according to Curvemonitor, 60.19% of CRV tokens are currently locked as veCRV. What is more, 80% of these tokens are locked up until 2029.

Locking up veCRV, from a period of one week to four years, enables holders to gain increased voting power in governance proposals. This also incentivizes long-term holders and limits the token’s circulating supply. For this reason, CRV is in a strong position to grow in the near future.